This invention relates to a centrifugal clutch having a relatively high torque transmitting capability which is progressively engageable to provide a smooth and gradual load pick up characteristic.
A designer of centrifugal clutches is frequently on the horns of a dilemma. For a clutch application requiring a given torque transmitting capability, he can select a relatively small, inexpensive high torque unit but which is characterized by relatively rapid and harsh engagement frequently accompanied by chatter and extreme vibration noise upon engagement. Alternatively, he can select a relatively large, more expensive low torque unit characterized by a relatively soft, smooth and gradual engagement. If for the particular clutch application, the expense and/or size of a low torque centrifugal clutch unit is inappropriate, and the rapid and harsh engagement characteristic of a high torque centrifugal clutch unit is also inappropriate, the designer may have to rule out a centrifugal clutch unit altogether and resort, at perhaps substantially greater expense and complication, to some other form of clutch device.
Thus, it is generally an object of this invention to provide a centrifugal clutch having a relatively high torque transmitting capability with a relatively soft, smooth and gradual engagement, and which can be made available in a relatively small unit at reasonable cost.